Bulkhead

ABSTRACT

A collapsible bulkhead frame for stacking bulk material against. The bulkhead frame includes a pair of like A-frames mounted on base runners and laterally spaced apart by detachable crossmembers extending between each A-frame. The base runners extend just beyond the A-frames on the stacking side in order that the first column of stacked material will rest thereon while leaning against the corresponding A-frame side.

m .1 11 h U111 Sttes Pate 1151 3,37,94 Grey 1 1 .ll'an. 25, 172

541 BULKHEAD 570,869 11/1896 Daniels ..214/7 1,687,907 10/1928 Systrom etal. ..214/10.5 [721 Invent M Grey Selma 2,166,918 7/1939 McMullen et al. ..105/369 B [73] Assignee: Sperry Rand Corporation, New Holland, 3,297,175 1/1967 Gooding ..2l4/10.5

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza [22] Filed: May 1970 Assistant Examiner-Frank E. Werner [21] APPLNO: 38 815 Attorney-Joseph A. Brown, John C. Thompson, James J.

Kennedy and George C. Bower [52] ILLS. Cl. ..214/105 1R, 105/369 B, 105/376 57 S C [51] llnt.Cll ..lBtSSg 11/141 5s FieldofSearch ..214/10,10.5,1, 152, 7,6B; A CouaPslble bulkhead frame for Stackmg bulk maler'al 105/369 13 376 against. The bulkhead frame includes a pair of like A-frames mounted on base runners and laterally spaced apart by [56] References Cited detachable crossmembers extending between each A-frame. The base runners extend just beyond the A-frames on the UNITED STATES PATENTS stacking side in order that the first column of stacked material will rest thereon while leaning against the corresponding A- 1,570,02O 1/1926 Welsh ..105/369 B frame Side. 1,147,637 7/1915 McKmney ..105/369 B Sherman ..214/10.5 X

3 Claims, 3 Drawing lFigures PHEME INVENTOR, DONALD GREY BULKHEAD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to bulkheads and more particularly to frame bulkheads for stacking bulk articles such as bales of hay and the like thereagainst.

The advent of the automatic bale wagon, such as shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,848,l27, enables the hay farmer to automatically pickup bales of hay from the field, load the bales on the wagon-loading bed, stack the load in a stacking area and later retrieve the stacks from the stack row. The stacking phase has been hampered somewhat, not by any difficulty with the performance of the wagon, but by the unavailability of a convenient suitable stacking area where the load stacks may be successively discharged in a stack row in a neat, upright and aligned fashion whereby they may be readily retrieved if desired.

In the past barns and other structures of the like have been found to be acceptable for use as stack ends for stacking loads of hay against. But often there is no such structure conveniently situated near the area of operation. In such cases the farmer must find a generally level strip of ground on which to discharge the load stacks. But even so, some type of bulkhead at the starting end of the row is needed in order that the impact from stacking successive loads will not cause the stack row to collapse. This has been commonly accomplished by manually removing bales from the upper outer portion of the first stack load and restacking them adjacent the lower outer portion of the same first stack. Such restacking detracts significantly from the overall efficiency of the field operation and burdens the tractor operator by requiring him to manually restack the bales. In addition the manually formed bale bulkhead often proves to be inadequate for supporting a stack row.

One object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide lightweight frame bulkhead that is collapsible such that it may be readily assembled and disassembled for convenient han dling and transportation to stacking areas.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a bulkhead whose lateral spacing may be adjusted to accommodate stacks of various size bales.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bulkhead with engaging elements about the inner side thereof for engaging the first load stack such that the bulkhead will have no tendency to slide or slip away from the stack row as successive loads are stacked thereagainst.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front-elevational view of the frame bulkhead.

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the frame bulkhead showing a portion of a stack of bales stacked against the inner face thereof.

FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of the frame bulkhead and a wagon showing the relationship therebetween during stacking of the first load.

With reference to the drawing, particularly FIG. 1, the frame bulkhead is generally madeup of first and second like frame members 20,22 laterally spaced apart by crossmember means 24.

Turning to FIG. 2 it can be seen that each of the frame members 20,22 include a horizontal base runner 26,.e xtending adjacent and parallel to ground G. A back member 28 is connected to a forward intermediate portion of base runner 26 by a connecting pin 30 and extends upwardly and slightly rearwardly therefrom. Extending between the back member 28 and the base runner 26 is a support brace 32 connected at an upper intermediate portion of back member 28 and to the rear end of base runner 26 by connecting pins 34,36 respectively.

Extending along a forward portion of the base runner 26, just forward of the connection with back member 28, is a forward extension 37 having a series of upstanding engaging elements 38. As the first stack of bales are discharged against the bulkhead the bottom portions of the lower outwardly placed bales engage the engaging elements 38. This in effect ties the first stack of bales with the frame bulkhead and prohibits sliding of the bulkhead as successive loads are stacked against the stack now.

As mentioned above the back member 28 extends upwardly and slightly rearwardly from base runner 26. The reason for such is to give the stack row a slight lean rearwardly so that the load stacks may be discharged quickly, efficiently and without any danger of the load stack falling away from the stack row as the wagon moves therefrom. Although the degree of lean may be varied depending on the terrain and slope of the stacking area, a seven degree lean has been found to be quite satisfactory for generally level stacking strips.

Referring back to FIG. l, a plurality of receiving means in the form of apertures 40 are disposed in corresponding spaced apart alignment about back member 28 of frames 20,22. The cross member means 24 includes a pair of cross links 42,44 which are detachably secured within corresponding apertures 40. It can be noted that the lower ends of cross links 42,42 may be selectively secured within any of apertures 40 about the intermediate portion of back member 28 for varying the lateral spacing of frames 20,22 to conform to the width of the stack row.

From the foregoing discussion and the accompanying drawings it is apparent that the described bulkhead may be used as a stack end for other various bulk articles besides hay. But it is especially designed to work in conjunction with an automatic bale wagon such as that shown in FIG. 3 during the stacking and retrieving phases. When so used the frames 20,22 are assembled and adjusted for proper lateral spacing and placed at the head of the stacking strip. A bale wagon 46 having a tiltable load table 48 is backed up to the stacking side of the bulkhead where table 48 is tilted and the stack load is discharged therefrom as the wagon moves forward by discharging means, not shown. From FIG. 2 it is seen that once the first load is discharged the outermost vertical column of bales rest on the forward extension 37 of base runner 26 such that the bottom bales engage the engaging elements 38. Thus the bulkhead and the first load stack are tied together such that successive loads may be stacked thereagainst without sliding of the bulkhead.

It is obvious that the present invention has the advantage of being inexpensive to construct and can be readily assembled and disassembled at the sites of operation. The collapsibility of frames 20,22 give the bulkhead an important portability feature that makes handling and transportation thereof easy and convenient. The drawings show the frame structure of the bulkhead as being constructed of channel iron but applicant recognizes that such could be constructed of various other types and shaped metals or even nonmetals such as wood.

The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways other than those hlerein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range are intended to be embraced herein.

While this invention has been described in connection with a single embodiment, it will be understood that this embodiment is capable of modification and that this application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A frame for stacking bulk material against, comprising:

first and second frames, said frames including a generally horizontal base, a backing member extending upwardly from said base for leaning said bulk material thereagainst, and a brace member connectively linking said base with said backing member for supporting the same;

a plurality of receiving means correspondingly disposed in spaced-apart relationship about an intermediate portion of the backing members of said first and second frames;

crossmember means connecting said first frame with said second frame for maintaining lateral spaced-apart relationship therebetween, said crossmember means includes a pair of links whereby said links may be selectively cross disposed within said receiving means for varying the lateral space between said first and second frames; and

detachable secun'ng means for securing said crossmember means within said receiving means for maintaining a selected lateral spaced apart relationship between said frames, whereby said crossmember means may be readily detached from said receiving means for convenient handling and transportation of said first and second frames.

2. A frame structure for stacking bulk material against,

comprising:

first and second frame members, each of said first and second frame members including a generally horizontal extending base having forward and rear ends, a back member connected to said base at a point intermediate the midpoint and the forward end thereof and extending upwardly and slightly rearwardly therefrom, said back members of said first and second frames including a plurality of corresponding spaced-apart receiving means about the intermediate portion thereof, whereby said first 5 and second links may be selectively connected within said receiving means for adjusting the lateral spacing between said first and second frame, a brace member connected at one end to a point intermediate the midpoint and the upper end of said back member and connected at the other end to the rear end of said base; and

crossmember means linking said first and second frames together for maintaining corresponding lateral spacedapart relationship, said crossmember means including first and second intersecting links, said first link connected at one end to the upper end of the back member of said first frame and connected at the other end to an intermediate portion of the back member of said second frame, said second link connected at one end to the upper end of the back member of said second frame and connected at the other end to an intermediate portion of the back member of said first frame.

3. A frame structure for stacking bulk material against, a recited in claim 2, wherein the base of said first and second frames include upwardly extending engagement elements along a forward portion thereof. 

1. A frame for stacking bulk material against, comprising: first and second frames, said frames including a generally horizontal base, a backing member extending upwardly from said base for leaning said bulk material thereagainst, and a brace member connectively linking said base with said backing member for supporting the same; a plurality of receiving means correspondingly disposed in spaced-apart relationship about an intermediate portion of the backing members of said first and second frames; crossmember means connecting said first frame with said second frame for maintaining lateral spaced-apart relationship therebetween, said crossmember means includes a pair of links whereby said links may be selectively cross disposed within said receiving means for varying the lateral space between said first and second frames; and detachable securing means for securing said crossmember means within said receiving means for maintaining a selected lateral spaced apart relationship between said frames, whereby said crossmember means may be readily detached from said receiving means for convenient handling and transportation of said first and second frames.
 2. A frame structure for stacking bulk material against, comprising: first and second frame members, each of said first and second frame members including a generally horizontal extending base having forward and rear ends, a back member connected to said base at a point intermediate the midpoint and the forward end thereof and extending upwardly and slightly rearwardly therefrom, said back members of said first and second frames including a plurality of corresponding spaced-apart receiving means about the intermediate portion thereof, whereby said first and second links may be selectively connected within said receiving means for adjusting the lateral spacing between said first and second frame, a brace member connected at one end to a point intermediate the midpoint and the upper end of said back member and connected at the other end to the rear end of said base; and crossmember means linking said first and second frames together for maintaining corresponding lateral spaced-apart relationship, said crossmember means including first and second intersecting links, said first link connected at one end to the upper end of the back member of said first frame and connected at the other end to an intermediate portion of the back member of said second frame, said second link connected at one end to the upper end of the back member of said second frame and connected at the other end to an intermediate portion of the back member of said first frame.
 3. A frame structure for stacking bulk material against, a recited in claim 2, wherein the base of said first and second frames include upwardly extending engagement elements along a forward portion thereof. 